Method and apparatus for drawing sheet-glass.



J PLAYER.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRAWING SHEET GLASS. APPLICATION FILED JULYVEB, 1910.

1,082,289, Pa ented July 9, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. PLAYER.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRAWING SHEET GLASS. APPLICATION FILED JUL'Y 28, 1910.

1,032,239, Patented July 9,1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2 h i 7 60 P0175? 9,0 9 I m 7 L! J9 lil E S :ii 6 A 8 v I (7 m r 'zg 2 fi m J Mimi I j attorneys 7 25 ping devices.

' JOHN PLAYER, or nivnnironnsr nmmoxs.

mn'rn'on AND arraaa'rus Fon' nmwine SHEET-GLASS.

Specification of utters-Patent.

Application time may as, 1910'. atria; 1%.- Man.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that 1,3015: 7 PLAYER, of River Forest, Illinois, have invented a new and useful Method and Apparatus for Dra'wing Sheet-Glass, which invention is fully set forth in the following specification.

This invention relates to the art of draw ing glass in sheet or plate form from a mass of molten glass.

Hitherto, it has been proposed to draw sheet glass by inserting a suitable bait in a mass of molten glassand then applying power to the baitto draw the same outward.

and generally u Ward from the molten mass,

and when the rawn sheet has reached the ,desired length to sever the same from the molten mass and repeat the operation. This has the objection that it is not a continuous process and, therefore, necessarily slow. It

has also been proposed to initiate the draw- 1 ing operation by the use of the bait and after the sheet has been started to apply suitable mechanism for continuin the pull of the sheet, such as gripping-r0 ls or other gripmar the sheet and result in'a necessary complication of the mechanism. In U. S. Patent No. 952,354 granted me March 15, 1910, I have disclosed a process and a paratu's lie signed to overcome these objectlons by substituting the frictionalcontact of the sheet of glass with a continuously-moving carrier,

means for driving the same form a necessary part of the apparatus. at

is to rovide a method and an apparatus for drawing sheet glass, in which, after the.

drawing of the sheet has been initiated, no

power should be applied to the sheet either in the shape of grippingrolls or other gripping mechanism or in the shape of a powerdriven carrier operating through frictional contact, as in my patent last-named. a

A further object is to provide a method and apparatus which shall be continuous in operation, of simple construction and, there- These devices more or less" riction between One of the objects of the presentinvention fore, of small cost and less liabletoi get out of order than 1n constructions heretofore proposed. M

With these objects in view, the invention consists, first, in a method of drawing sheet glass which consists in utilizing the weight of thesheet of glass itself-+that is, the gravity of the sheet to furnish the powernecessary to perform the drawing-operation after such drawingoperation has been once initiated. The starting of the sheet may 'be reflected in any suitable mannen'as by means of a suitable bait immersed in the molten mass and then slowly elevated therefrom by thti: application of power through any suitab e evi'ce, as by a chain attached to' a suitable windlass driven by hand or asuitable motor. The sheet is then turned, While still plastic, over a suitable bending-roll and passed downward until the length of; the :sheet has become such that the weight of the drawn sheet Will be sufficient to maintain the draft necessary to continue the drawing operation. The sheet is passed over a bending-mll-it is herein shown as passing over a plurality of bending-rollsand then is permitted to hang vertically downward, which case n0 table or support of any kind is necessary for the sheet; or the sheet may be passed on to a su 'port inclined to the vertical at any suita le or desired angle. Said support may be in any suitable form, preferably, in .the form of a series of idler rolls preferably mounted upon ball-bearings placed parallel to and in close juxtaposition to each other. Whether the sheet isj'per-' mittedyto fall vertically downward without a table or other similar support, orwhether it'isinclined at an angle with the vertical and mounted on a suitable and, preferably, anti-frictional support, it is" inclosed in a suitable oblong chamber of proper length to serve as a leer, and means are provided whereby heat in addition to that radiating from the sheet-may be supplied to the leer chamber if the same is found necessary. As .the sheet emerges from the end of the leer, it is cut ofl in'suitable lengths, by a workman standingat the mouth of the leer, and delivered tea suitable carriage for transporting it to cuttingtahles'or to a suitable "placeof storage.

Patented awa s, 1912.

In drawing sheet glass, there should be i a certain rate of movement or draft of the sheet proportionate tothe temperature and fluidity of the molten mass from which it V I is drawn. In order to insure against the ployed for this purpose, and for the sake of illustrating the inventive idea involved, there is herein shown a plurality of friction rolls with means for adjusting the friction of such rolls upon the edge portions of the sheet to resist or check the. downward,

' movement of the sheet when such, action bending-roll or .rolls. v extend either vertically downward or itmay extend at an angle to the vertical.

' 1 becomes necessary.

Secondly, the invention consistsin a leer chamber extending downwardly from the This chamber may Preferably, the leer chamber is mounted so as to be capable of being turned around an axis located in'the axis of one of the bend ing-rolls or approximatethereto, and means are provided for swinging such chamber her a series of transverse horizontal anti so that it will assume either a vertical position or one, at an'angle to the vertical if that may be found inost desirable; Preferably, there is provided-in this leer chamfrictional rolls over which the sheet passes in-itsdownwa'rd movement, and with which it contacts when the leer is placed at an angle to the vertical, but which rolls perform no function when the leer is placed in a5 vertical position.

' Preferably, the leer chamber consists of "metal walls provided with proper heat inv, sulating material, such as-asbestos, which is (placed, preferably, on both the interior 4t) an exterior sides thereof, and for the purpose of facilitating the movement of the leer chamber so as to adjust it either into the vertical or inclined positions the same is preferably connected to suitable counterweights so that a very small amount of power is required to effect adjustment.

The invention also consists in certain details of construction and methods of open 1 ation which will be hereinafter more speof illustrating the invention, one of the me-' chanicalembodiments of the apparatus is shown in the accompanying drawings, but

it is to be understood that such drawings are for, the purpose offillustration only and are not designed to define the limits ofthe invention, reference being had to the claims appended hereto for that purpose.

In said drawings-Figure 1 is a vertical mounted to turn on a transverse axis '13 and central section with the leer shown in inclined position in full lines and in a vertical position'in dotted lines; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. l with parts broken away; and Fig. 3 is a transverse section -on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Referring to the drawings, 1 is any suitable meltingfurnace. 2 is a dog house conmeeting the same with the working chamber 3. The molten glass is maintained in working'condition by burners 4 in the doghouse and by a flue 5 leading from the end of the working chamber downward to a connection 6' leading to the stack 7. Immediately above the open working slot in theworking 'cham- 8O ber, there is formed a drawing chamber 8 having a roof or; covering 9, from which the stack 7 extends and'in this drawing chamber'above the working slot in the working chamber is mounted bending-roll 10, while a second bending-roll 11 is mounted in said chamber outside of the first bending-roll. A leer 12 in the form of a long chamber, preferably j rectangular in cross-section, is

has its upper end projecting-into the draw ingcha mber 8, the walls of the leer and of the drawing chamber being struck onicorre 'sponding arcs to permit the leer to be turned about its axis while at the same time maintaining the close connection between the drawin chamber and leer. V

The l eer is provided with a suitable support for the lass while the same is (being drawn-when t eleer is'in an inclined position. Such support may be of any suitable form. As here shown, the support consists of a series of idler rolls 14 14 hung in the leer on axes transverse thereto with the upper surfaces ofthe rolls in same inclined 5 plane.

For thepurpose of regulating the temperature within the leer chamber, suitable burners l5 and dampers 16 are providedat the bottomand at intervals along the cham- 1 0 ber, and for the purpose of controlling the temperature of the drawing chamber a flue 17 is open directly from the dog house into the working chamber, preferably about opposite the bending-roll 10', but, if desired, 11 5 I her about its axis so as to adjust itto a vertical position or to any desired angle of inclination, suitable means, here shown as a hoisting pulley 18carried on any suitable super-structure 19, are provided with a chain or a cable 20 extending over the pulley 18 12 and connected as, at 21 to the leer. While only one set ofpulle connections are shown,. it will be understoo that any suitable number may be employed and that any other suitable means for applying power to adjust for -said pulley and cable. Preferably, the

weightof the leer chamber is counter-balanced by a weight 22 connected to a cable 23] passing over'a pulley 24 and Connected as at 25 to the leer chamber.

For the purpose of controlling the rate of movement of the sheet downward through the leer chamber, that is, for the purpose of preventingit from moving too fast under the action of gravity, suitable means are provided, here shown in theform of friction rolls 26 (see Fig. 3). These rolls' are preferably constructed so as to avoidmarring the glass, this beingaccomplished by facing the rolls with suitable refractorymaterial such as asbestos. Means arealso provided for adjusting the friction of these rolls on the sheet of glass. As here shown, such means consist of a sleeve 27 mounted to turn on stub-shaft 28, a lever-arm29 being rigidly connected to and projecting from the sleeve and bearing the weight 30 on the exterior end thereof. Projecting from the sleeve 27 isalso an arm 31 supporting a bearing 32 for the bearing-shaft 33 of the friction roller 26. Mounted on a bracket 34 secured to the wall of the leer chamber is a pawl 35 engaging a ratchet 36 on the sleeve 27. The action of the weight is tosupply the frictional pressure of'the roll 26 upon the sheet of glass, it being understood that such rolls 26 come immediately opposite one of the supporting rolls 14. The amount .of pressure exerted by therolls 26 upon the glass may be varied by adjusting the position of the weight 30 by means of the pawl and ratchet 35 and 36, the maximum pressure being obtained when the lever-arm 29 extends in a horizontal position and as the said arm is adjusted from such horizontal position the effective action ofthe weight uponthe roll 26 is decreased until it becomes nil when the arm 29 is in a vertical position. a Any other suitablemeans for adjustingthe pressure of tuted for that shown.

For the purpose of initiating the drawino' operation a suitable bait may be inserted through the side opening 37 above the working chamber (see Fig. 2), and a chain or other suitable cable 38 connectdto the bait is passed downward through the leer chamher and connected to any suitable means for applying power to wind 11p the chain, such means being here shown-as in the form of a:

Windlass 39 (Fig. 2). For the purposeof connecting the chain to the bait, an opening may be provided in the upper wall ofthe' drawing chamber by removing a plug 40 or by. removing a plug 41 formed in the upper wall of the leer chamber, an opening 42 provided with a suitable closure-being provided through which a hooked rod may be inserted to draw the chain forward and drop it glass v may be substi- "inserte downward into the working chamber to be connected to the bait, while the other end of the chain may be dropped downward through the leer until it extends through the lower opening therein, where it may be connected to the Windlass.

A platform 43 (Fig. 1) is hung to the,

lower end of the leerchamber 12, upon which a workman stands to cut off the glass when it emerges from the leer, as herein- .after described, and immediately below the i the table being near vertical standard 47.

The hinged table 46 is supported on a camshaped bracket arm 48 pivoted to turn on an axis 49 and provided with a worm-gear 50 engaging a worm 51 on a shaft 5.2.provided with a hand-wheel to the end that as the sheets of glass are delivered to the table 46 the same may be gradually lowered by operating the bracket 48 through the handwheel 53. I Y

The bending-rolls 10 and 11 are, preferably, idler rolls when the machine is in normal operation, but at-the initiation of the drawing operation it is sometimes found desirable to revolve these rolls by power and for this purpose the shaft of the rolls project through the side walls of the working chamber (see Fig. 2) and are provided with worm-gears 54 engaged by worms 55 on a shaft 56-driven as by chain 57 extending to any suitable source of power. The

wornhgears 54 are. connected to the shafts of the bending-rolls 10 and 11 by any suitable clutch mechanism, not shown, and when the drawing operation has been fully started said worm-gears may be disconnected, from the shafts of the bending-rolls by opening the clutches.

. For the purpose of controlling the amount of hot gases passing through the fine 17, there is rovided a sliding damper 58 (Fig. 1.) of refractory material, such as fire-brick, controlled by a chain/59 passing over a pulley '60; 1 7

Operation: The glass in the working chamber 3 having been brought to proper workin condition and the bait having been therein and the chain 38 secured thereto and assed downward through the leer to-the Windlass 39, power is provided to the ,windlass'and the bait is slowly elevated from the molten glass, resulting in the drawing of the sheet now well known in the art. It is, of course, understood that suitable means are provided for overcomart, it is not deemed necessary that the? same should be specifically shown and described As the drawing of the sheet continues, it j p is turned over the bending-rolls and 11 and drawn downward by the bait-chain 38 and the bait 61 (see Fig. 2) until the latter emerges at the lower end of the leer, when it is severed from the sheet of glass in any suitable manner, If preferred, however, the bait could be severed from the sheet of glass and removed at any other suitable point on its downward movement through theleer. During the downward movement of the bait and the sheet of glass following the same, if it is found that the weight of thesheet tends to cause the same to move downward too rapidly, the friction rolls 26 are brought into operation and when the bait has been finally removed the pressure of these friction rolls upon the sheet is adjusted so as to cause the sheet to move at the desired speed for producing the best results. After the bait has been removed and the bending rolls 10 and 11 disconnected from the source "of power, the drawing of the sheet thereafter continues entirely as the result of the action of gravity upon the sheet of glass in the downwar ly-extending leer. no draft power other than that of gravity applied to the sheet at all. No gripping mechanism with its complicated driving connections and its marring action'upon the sheet is employed. In order that the sheet may be properly annealed during its passage through the leer, -the temperature of the leer chamber is regulated by means of the burners 15 and the dampers 16, the leer chamber necessarily being hottest at its j pper portion and the temperature graduy decreasing until the bottom of the leer approximately that of theexternal atmosphere. In some cases, it may be found that the heat radiated from'the sheet of glass will be sufiicient to maintain the proper temperature within the leer. Of course, it will be understood that before the initiation of the operation, the entire leer is heated up bye-the use of the burners 15. It will a so observed that by reason of the fact that the exit end of the leer is at the bottom while the'inlet thereof is at the top, the natural rise of the heated air passing on its way to the stack 7 will result in the upperor entrance end of the leer being the hottest and the necessaryogradual decrease in temerature to;the ttom or exit end of the eer, which is the ideal condition for prop- There is which consists in applying extraneous power to initiate the drawing operation, .and then discpnnecting said extraneous power and using the action of gravity on the drawn portion of the sheet to continue the drawing operation.

2. The method of drawing sheet glass which consists in initiating the drawing by applying power to draw a sheet, turning the drawn portion of the sheet downward, and then disconnecting the applied power, whereby the continued draft on the sheet is produced by gravity. 4V

3.The method of drawing sheet glass which consists in drawing glass upward in sheet form, and then turning the sheet downward and utilizing the weight of the sheet to continue the drawing operation.

The method of forming a sheet of glass which consists in drawing a sheet portion and then using the drawn portion of the sheet to furnish the power to'continue the drawing operation.

5. The method of continuously drawing sheet glass which consists in preparing a mass of molten glass, drawing a sheet of glass upwardly therefrom by the application of power, then turning the sheet downward and continuing the drawing operation by said power until the weight of the drawn sheet is suflicient to effect the drawing, and then disconnecting said power and continuing the drawing by using the weight of the downwardly turned portion of the sheet.

6. The method of continuously. drawing sheet glass which consists in drawing the glass upward in sheet form, then turning the sheet downward, and then annealing the downwardly turned portion of the sheet while using its weight to continue the draw. ing operation.

,7. The method of continuously drawing sheet glass which consists in drawing a.

sheet portion and then using the drawn por:

tion of the sheet to furnish the power to continue the drawing operation and keeping the weight of the sheet approximately constant by cutting 01f the end portions of the sheet as the drawing continues.

8. The method of continuously drawing sheet glass which consists in drawing the continuous 'sheet first upward and then downward by the action of gravity through an annealing atmosphere, and then severing the annealed portions of the sheet as they emerge from the annealing atmosphere.

9. In an apparatus for drawing sheet glass, the combination of a drawing chamber, a leer mounted to swing in a vertical plane and connected at its upper end to 5 said chamber, and a bending roll located in said chamber.

10. In an apparatns for drawing sheet glass, the combination of a drawing chamher, a leer' pivoted at its upper end and 10 opening into said chamber, and a bending roll, in the drawing chamber.

11. A gravity-actuated sheet-glass drawing apparatus having a downwardly inclined leer, means controlling the angle of inclination of said leer, and means in said leer controlling the downward movement of the glass under the action of gravity.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscrib- 

